Giants quickly back in groove

May 13 2002 By Chris Roberts, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A Barber drop goal attempt drifted wide and only an excellent smoother tackle by Ben Cooper on Paul Norton prevented Oldham from extending their early advantage.

So, it came as something of a relief to the large band of travelling Huddersfield fans that made up around half of the sorry crowd of 1,699 - where were all the Oldham fans who wanted tickets? - when the Giants opened their account in the 14th minute.

Paul Reilly's run to the line caught the Oldham defence on the hop and his pass gave Stanley Gene the room to crash over under the posts.

Steve McNamara added the conversion and Huddersfield had a lead they were never to lose.

A McNamara penalty five minutes later eased the visitors further ahead, although at this stage the contest remained perfectly poised.

While Hefin O'Hare just failed to hold onto the ball over the line, Oldham also had their chances, with Jon Goddard and Mark Sibson both going close.

Yet four minutes before the break the Giants began to embark on a decisive tryscoring spree, which brought two quick tries either side of half-time.

Matthew Whittaker set the ball rolling by squeezing in at the corner following more good work from Reilly.

Then two minutes later, Cooper released Whittaker deep inside his own half and the winger outpaced the cover to embark on a dazzling touchline run.

As the defence closed in he sent out the perfect pass to the supporting Cooper to finish off in style.